Dear Vu, I found your recently penned article titled “Why nonprofit staff should not be asked to donate to the organizations they work for” thought-proving and see it touched a nerve, engendering a lot of commentary, pro and con. I found the article and the commentary stimulating, hence this open letter. I respectfully disagree with…
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You’ve still got time to sprinkle a little magic into your year-end fundraising!
Consider each of these seven words a magic potion unto themselves.
The more of these words you use, the more powerful a spell your appeal will cast.
Each of these packs a bigger persuasive punch than you might imagine.
Let’s take a closer look at how this works.
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Are you framing your ask as an “annual appeal” or as “we only ask once a year?”
A growing body of research in psychology and behavioral economics shows how you frame your ask can have a big difference in your fundraising results.
Much of this has to do with how people mentally account for all consumer ‘purchases,’ including charitable giving.
Researchers have found people don’t treat all of their money (or time, effort or other resources) as if they have one big pool of it. Rather, they have separate mental accounts. When they spend resources they keep track of that expenditure based on the mental account it came from.
This has significant fundraising implications, so it’s important to delve further into this mental accounting principle.
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The biggest fundraising time of the year for most nonprofits inexorably approaches.
It can be stressful.
Don’t succumb to the stress. You’ve got this!
Perhaps you can’t do everything you’d like to do this year, but you can do some things.
Here are 12 strategies for you to consider. Each will pack a big punch.
Some you can do on your own. Some will require support from technical and/or marketing staff.
Here’s the thing: Often it’s the little things that count. That pack a surprising wallop.
So don’t save all your energy for writing your appeal. Help your appeal along by putting some of the dozen suggestions that follow into effect. Even just one or two will make a difference.
Let’s get started…
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The absolute worst thing you can do the day after #GivingTuesday is nothing.
As tempting as it is to let out a sigh of relief that it’s over, resist that temptation.
It’s not time to relax yet.
Nothing comes of nothing.
And a huge part of your goal with #GivingTuesday should be to strengthen your bonds with donors. That’s the real something you’re after.
It’s not just about the money you raise today.
Your goal with any fundraising strategy is to retain and, ultimately, upgrade these transactional donors. The name of the game in the business of sustainable fundraising is lifetime donor value. [Here’s a great book on the topic: Building Donor Loyalty: The Fundraiser’s Guide to Increasing Lifetime Value.]
Like it or not #GivingTuesday is a ‘special event.’(And I don’t really like it, which is why I recommend #GratitudeTuesday as an alternative).You likely put a fair amount of planning, resources and time into this event, involving the attention of more than one staffer and/or volunteer. And it sucks time away from almost everything else in the week(s) leading up to it.
It can be a real drain.
Your job is to put a stopper in that drain so all your hard work doesn’t simply swirl down the drain and disappear. That’s like working super hard to create a delicious soup you simmer over the stove for hours, maybe even days, and then you take one little taste before you pour it out and start all over again with a new one. Endless work. And no one really gets to enjoy the meal.
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I’ve long been an advocate of turning the tables on #GivingTuesday and using the “giving” part of the day to give to donors rather than add yet one more ask from them in an already crowded solicitation season.
If you want gifts, you must give them.
#GivingTuesday is one of those things that sounds good on paper, but in actual implementation it can be less than ideal.
Why?
Because it comes smack dab in the middle of most folks’ annual campaigns. So there’s often little time to do it right. And it can suck your energy and focus away from other critically important year-end fundraising efforts.
I’ve got a better choice for you.
Flip the idea and rather than asking folks to make a symbolic gift to you, why don’t you make a heartfelt gift to them?
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Guess what strategy you’re likely not using enough that really works to facilitate organizational growth?
And you want to keep growing, right? Because if you stop growing, you wither and die. You either want to do more of what you’re doing, or do what you’re doing better. Or both. And… you can! You should!
Ready to have your mind blown?
There’s a super simple thing you can do to dramatically increase your contributions.
You can easily put this in place before the end of the calendar year — when most donors make their gifts.
Trust me. You’re going to want to read the rest of this article.
Because you’ll learn there’s one thing growing organizations have in common.
And it may surprise you.
Ready?
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Who doesn’t love a holiday?
The very word conjures up notions of celebration, warmth and love.
If you’re a donor-centered fundraising practitioner, you’d be a fool not to take advantage. Why not tap into pre-existing positive vibes to increase the chances your appeal will be warmly received?
After all, if you can channel something positive that’s more or less universally felt, this gives you a leg up. It puts your donors in a giving mood using familiar symbols and traditions.
Except when it doesn’t.
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There’s a powerful psychological principle known as the “identifiable victim effect.”
It has to do with how you describe the scope of the problem you’re asking donors to help address. And what they will do as a result of how they perceive this scope.
There’s another related psychological principle known as “scope insensitivity.”
It applies when a number is too large for people to really comprehend its meaning. If you tell me something costs $1 billion, I really have little idea how this might differ from $10 million. Both numbers are equally overwhelming. I can’t picture how high a pile of either would be in dollar bills or even $100 bills. I have no sensitivity as to the scope because I simple can’t sense it.
Fundraisers absolutely need to know about, and apply, these principles.
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I always tell nonprofits writing appeal letters to tell a story. One compelling, exceptional story.
Actually, you need TWO compelling stories. We’ll get to that in a minute.
First…
Forget the data.
Forget the history of your organization.
Forget the explanatory prose about your processes.
Forget the list of all your programs.
Forget the superlatives about your longevity, awards, and so forth.
That stuff is compelling only to you. Donors don’t care. It’s just not relevant to them. At least not right away. Donors don’t have time to enter into all your self-indulgence.
Really, most folks don’t have time for you at all.
But…
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